Insanity Or Love?
by runningintriangles
Summary: Cloud is running away. From what, he cannot say. Will he continue to run, or will something change his mind?
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Square Enix. The storyline belongs to me._

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Insanity…Or Love?

He walked through the forest in silence, not really sure where he was going. He just had to get away. _Away from what though? _he asked himself.

"From your life, Cloud."

"Who's there?" he called out.

He heard a laugh, a girlish giggle. Then, in the darkness, he saw a pinpoint of light. The light blossomed into a flower, glowing a pale yellow. The flower soon disappeared into a larger droplet of liquid light. The liquid slowly molded itself into a shape resembling a young woman. The light, now glowing a pale pink, seemed to solidify, but not lose its glow. A moment later, she was standing in front of Cloud.

"Aerith," he said in less than a whisper.

She smiled. "Why are you running away, Cloud?"

"I'm not running away, I'm just…"

"Walking away?" she replied with a giggle. "You know, if you keep running you'll never find what you're looking for."

"What am I looking for?"

She giggled again, "How would I know? But running away won't help you find it."

"I didn't know that I was looking for something," he said, a slight smile breaking his usually emotionless face.

"Maybe not something, but someone."

"Someone…"

Aerith shimmered then said, "Don't forget Cloud, everything will be okay, I promise," before slowly fading away.

"Aerith! Wait! Please, don't go!"

She smiled and waved then faded back into nothingness, leaving Cloud alone again.

The smile that had previously adorned his face had faded with the light that had been Aerith.

"Aerith," he whispered again. He stood for a moment, and then turned around, and headed back. "I promise, I'll find what I'm looking for… And… And I won't run away."

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AN: Yeah… this was weird… I'm not even sure what inspired me to write it. I can't say I'm happy with it, but I can't say I absolutely hate it. I'm not really sure what I think of it. Please review, and tell me what you think. I know it's short, but I just kind of started typing and this came out. And I know I should be working on "The Heart of a Lion" but I'm currently going through what they call writer's block. I know where the story's going, just don't know how to get there. Anyway, I hoped you liked this, and please review. 


	2. Dreams and Wishes

Insanity… Or Love?

_-Dreams and Wishes-_

Cloud walked out of the forest back to where he had left his fenrir. Getting on the bike, he revved the motor and rode off. Hills and tress rolled by as he sped towards Midgar.

"_Everything will be okay, I promise."_

Her words echoed in his head, her shimmering image burned into his mind's eyes. The road began to disappear and he saw only a light. Memories…

"_Are you alright?"_

"_Neh…?" His vision was blurred and his head was pounding. 'What happened?' he thought. He tried sitting up only to pushed back down again. "Hey!"_

"_Lie down! You fell from pretty high… luckily the flowers broke your fall."_

"_Who…?"_

"_Aerith Gainsborough, and you?"_

"_Cloud, Cloud Strife." He tried to open his eyes, wincing at the light. "Ow…"_

"_You'll be find, just rest here a while."_

_There was the sound of music… a little sad, kind of haunting._

'_Wait… that's not right.'_

Cloud blinked and he was back on the road, driving fast. He blinked and looked down to where his phone was. The song it played had brought him out of the trance-like state of mind he had been in. He stared at the phone for a minute longer, shook his head and brought his eyes back up to the road. The phone continued to ring, but he ignored it as usual. Shortly after it had stopped ringing, he pulled over and flipped open the phone. He dialled his voice mail and listened.

"Why don't you ever answer your phone? Where are you, Cloud? We're all worried about you… Denzel's sick now… and Barret called, he's coming next week," – there was a pause and a sigh – "Call me… I wish you would come home…" – another sigh - "Bye."

He deleted the message and sighed. "Looks like you'll get your wish, Tifa." Snapping the phone shut, he returned it to his pocket and drove off.

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_There it is, chapter one (the first was a prologue…). I think I'm just going to do really short chapters… but I assure you the next one won't take as long as this one for me to get up. Let me know what you think… and Cloud's ring tone (thanks to Yume-Yume) is Roxas' theme (Kingdom Hearts II). Email me if you want me to send it to you. Anyway, thanks to anyone who helped me trying to figure out the ring tone for Cloud's phone._


	3. More Calls, More Memories

Insanity…Or Love?

_-More Calls, More Memories-_

His phone was ringing again.

"I'm coming…" he muttered to himself. Cloud slowed the fenrir and jumped off. Letting the phone continue to ring, it's sorrow-filled song echoing around, he walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking Midgar. He looked at the sword stuck in the dry ground of the crag. Standing slightly crooked, right where he had put it. Sighing he looked up to the sky. "I will live for you as well…" he said quietly. "For both of you… I promise."

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, as if to comfort him. He turned to see who was there, but saw nothing. The wind blew a bit of dust, swirling around, but he was definitely alone. Although, he did feel a little stronger… as if the ghostly touch had been a reassurance. Of what, he was not sure, but it had helped.

Noticing his phone had fallen silent again he flipped it open to check his messages.

"Pick up the phone!" – Cloud almost smiled, hearing the irritation in Yuffie's voice – "I heard Barret was coming to Midgar next week so I'm gonna come to… And _you_ better be there! It's taking me a while to get there… there is no way I'm flying with Cid…" – Cloud actually smiled remembering how the young ninja had a bit of a motion sickness problem – "Anyway, it's been too long since I've seen everyone. And I talked to Tifa…" – Cloud frowned as he heard her voice sober – "She's really worried about you, Cloud. You should really call her… Or at least answer your phone when she calls!" – he shook his head as he heard her voice go back to it's normal excited-ness – "And I found some _real_ cool material – I'll show you if you're there… and you better be! See ya soon!"

"Yuffie," Cloud said, his facing showing a slight amusement at his friend's long message. He deleted the message and jumped back onto his fenrir. "I'll be there."

_

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Fwa, even shorter… sorry… whatever, I'm liking the shortness… it's easier to update. Hope you liked it. And once again, the ring tone is Roxas' theme (KHII) and you can e-mail me if you want me to send it to you. Review… please?_


	4. Silent Return

Insanity… Or Love?

_-Silent Return-_

When Cloud arrived at the Seventh Heaven Bar it was night once again. He decided to sneak in the back way, knowing there would be people still in the bar. Once inside, he crept silently up the stairs. As quietly as the creaking floor would let him, he stepped into the children's room. _Didn't Tifa say Denzel was sick? _He walked over to the boy's bed and carefully brushed his bangs out of his face. "Geostigma," he said quietly, seeing the dark blemish on the boy's forehead.

"You have it too, don't you?"

Cloud looked up and turned to see Tifa standing in the doorway behind him. "I…yeah."

She nodded once, not surprised at all. "At least you came back."

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AN: Neh, I know it's short… too damn bad for any one who's reading this. Pssh… review. 


	5. Phone Calls and Jealousy

Insanity… Or Love?

_-Phone Calls and Jealousy-_

"I don't know if you spoke to anyone, but Barret, Yuffie and Cid are all on their way here."

"Yuffie called earlier today."

"You answered the phone?"

"No… she left a message."

Tifa let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Somehow, the thought of Cloud answering Yuffie's calls but not her own seemed to stir something up inside of her. "You must be tired. Get some rest and we can talk more in the morning."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, haven't slept in a real bed for a while," he muttered. He stood up from the stool he was sitting on and headed upstairs to his room.

Tifa sighed and finished cleaning up the bar. When she headed upstairs, she looked into Cloud's room. He was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling softly. She smiled. _You're really back…_ She turned and went into her own room. Falling asleep, the look of happiness and relief remained on her face.

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AN: Another short one… actually… they're all gonna be short and if you don't like it… well…. Um… too bad for you! Anyway, for anyone who is reading this… um… review? Please? I'll give you a cookie! By the way… this whole story is not even four pages in total… wow… that's sad. Neh, whatever. 


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